RumorMill: Details of Upcoming Apple Handheld

A Mac-related web site has what it claims is a description of a handheld that Apple will release this summer. Supposedly, it will offer a clamshell design, an internal hard drive, and FireWire. [Brighthand]

As you might expect it would be the ultimate…

According to this report, the device will run an operating system that is described as being “OS X-like” and is quite possibly based on Linux. It will have an unknown amount of RAM, but it will also have the same type of miniature hard drive that is used in Apple’s iPod line of MP3 players.

Apparently it will use a clamshell design, with the screen on one side and keyboard on the other. Like many recent clamshell models, the screen can be rotated around and closed over the keyboard, allowing the device to be used as a tablet. Its touchscreen will have a HVGA resolution, and it will use Apple’s Inkwell for handwriting recognition.

Supposedly, Apple’s handheld will have FireWire, USB, and Bluetooth. Of course it will be able to synchronize with iCal, Mail, Address Book etc. on an OS X Mac, but Mr. Manzione reports that iSync with Windows will be available, too.

The real and obvious question is whether or not it is finally going to happen. To me it seems like a totally obvious missing detail in the product mix. The iPod is only one way, but does a great job of sharing info while on the go. A two-way device capable of mobile connectivity, full sync to the mac (and apparently pc desktop) with high speed bus and wireless… I’m there! I’d leave Palm in a second and I am sure I am not alone…

Picture Galleries with Gallery

I’ve finally got a system for sharing pictures without having to worry about dealing with anything too technical – at least after the installation of Gallery.

In order to get this to work you need a windows or *nix server. I was unable to get it to install on my Mac system, but fortunately had plenty of linux server space I was not using. Gallery lets you set up a template and easily creates web pages to share your pictures. You can utilize slideshows, thumbnails, EXIF data from your pictures and even get prints done through Shutterfly or several other services. The sites you create are managed through CSS as you might expect these days which makes it relatively simple to make global changes to your gallery site.

You can upload pictures to your system via a traditional web interface, a java app and now a direct export from iPhoto thanks to the terrific iPhotoToGallery. This installs an export option into iPhoto (I’m using with iPhoto 4) so you can upload pictures into new galleries or add pictures to existing ones you’ve been working on.

I was messing with a few other set-ups for sharing pictures with my family but felt that this system was the easiest to use for the full level of computer users (total novice to advanced) I expect to be viewing our shots.

Challenges for Comcast, Before or After a Deal

The Comcast Corporation has offered more than $50 billion for the Walt Disney Company. If Comcast is successful, it would become the world’s biggest media company. Tom Wolzien, a media analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Company, talked last week about the offer. Following are excerpts from the conversation: [New York Times]

Adobe Could Do for Imaging What iTunes Did for Music

So other industries are now taking cue form what Apple has done fo the music industry: Adobe CEO is pondering an iTunes-like store: Adobe believes it might be able to bring a similar service to its army of creative professionals, offering the ability to download stock photography, design templates and the like from a trusted source – and of course for a fee.[nthoctave]

Interesting and possibly amazing addition to design studios and ad agencies everywhere. I think this could go a long way towards simplifying the use of stock books and CD Collections…

Jay-Z v. the Beatles — “Grey Album” food fight

I’d been looking for this this week and had only secured a few tracks… the whole album is now mine. Highly recommended listening.

DJ Danger Mouse remixed Jay-Z’s “Black Album” with the Beatles “White Album” to create… The “Grey Album,” of course.

The New Yorker had a little Talk of the Town piece on this, Apparently, Jay-Z created a vocals-only version of his album *explicitly* so DJs could remix it. And many have. This week, the Beatles issued a cease and desist to stop the Grey Album… which of course makes the Grey Album even more desirable as a collector’s item, so now the whole album is available for download. Here’s the commentary above the download links:

“Special interests, including the major labels, have turned copyright law into a weapon,” said Downhill Battle co-founder Holmes Wilson. “If Danger Mouse had requested permission and offered to pay royalties, EMI still would have said no and the public would never have been able to enjoy this critically acclaimed work. Artists are being forced to break the law to innovate.”

So is the Grey Album any good? Hell yes! I’ve been listening to it for a few days, and it grows on me more and more with each listen.

Link. [Boing Boing]

Practical Networking: Make Your Own Luck

Networking is about serendipity: making your own luck. We’ve all heard of some guy who just happened to have a friend starting a business and brought them in — only to make a million dollars later. The reason the story is not uncommon is because that’s how most positions are filled. I once saw a statistic that over 92% of positions are filled through extended networks rather than traditional means (classifieds, resume sites, recruiters). [VentureBlog]

An excellent post on the values of networking… read on for more.

Belkin Bluetooth GPS for $150

It certainly is tempting, though without a car it’s hard to justify a portable GPS for my Palm or Laptop… I know where I am when I am in NYC – though now that I think of it, this would work with Vindigo as well for pure location based info… mmmmm

I thought the 50% off sale ended 1/30 but, according to dealmac.com, you can snap up a Bluetooth’d Belkin GPS unit for $150. [MobileWhack]

First look at Flickr

Stewart Butterfield is giving me a demo of flickr. Real-time media sharing. Collaborative drawing. Real-time Photoshop contests. Uploading samples. Playing with the media we all generate.

Free, ad-based. Expected to see “pro” accounts. Stewart wrote the user interaction/UI for it. This is impressive.

It was turned on on Tuesday. Already a couple thousand users. Real launch is next week.

[Scobleizer]

I signed in last night and the UI it seems pretty slick. I just need some online buddies to share with… ;(

Sizing Up the Rumored Windows Code Leak

The leak is apparently real

This afternoon, news sites are abuzz with rumors that some or all the source code for Windows NT and 2000 leaked out onto the Internet.

I find it hard to believe that source code would leak. After all, companies put source code under lock and key, typically with no outside access available. Microsoft apparently is treating the leak as a rumor based on someone having seen unidentified code suspected to be Windows.

That said, any leak–whether minor or substantial–would be devastating for Microsoft. [Microsoft Monitor]

MyDoom is the Uncle Leo virus

How many emails has your spam filter picked with with ‘hello’ as the subject in the past few weeks… I can’t even count that high, it’s so many. As I clear things up, I can’t help but think of the episode in Seinfeld when Uncle Leo gets arrested shoplifting. It’s the same one where Uncle Leo tells Jerry he could at least say hello, regardless of how inconvenient the situation might seem. As Uncle Leo is getting taken out of the store he sees Jerry (who actually reported him) for the first time and Jerry says… “Uncle Leo, Hello!” Maybe it’s just one of those had to have been there /seen it bits…

Car Chase!

We just saw an amazing car chase on the news…

The story broke through live and we watched the chase for about 15 minutes (the whole chase was about 25 minutes). The driver who turned out to be an older looking man, was wanted for aggravated assault and decided to run. The guy ran all through Jersey City and finally ended up in Bayonne. The news is estimating that he ran for about 30-40 miles…

If you’ve seen Cops or America’s Scariest Car Chases (you know you love it) it was just like that, only live! This guy blew through traffic — constantly challenging people coming in the opposite direction, pedestrians (unfortunately hitting at least one person), yards and the police over and over and over. We watched him evade the cops and at one point he was almost boxed in… the Cops had guns drawn and he still kept on running!!

In the end, the police were finally able to hit his car hard enough to get it disabled in someone’s driveway where is casually stepped out and started walking away. At least 20 Cops swarmed him at that point ending the adventure. Whoa!

PMA: 19-inch wireless digital picture frame debuts

Seems like a very nice frame… though as you might expect it’s also pretty expensive.

PhotoVu LLC on Thursday introduced the PhotoVu PV1900, a custom-made 19-inch wireless digital picture frame. The device is used to display digital photography in homes or businesses, mounted on a wall like a regular picture frame and capable of retrieving imagery over a wireless network. [MacCentral]

Nokia CTO Speech: etcon

Nokia certainly seems to get it…have to see what future developments lie in Symbian now that they really control it.

A few notes on keynote by Pertti Korhonen “Life Goes Mobile” CTO Nokia Corporation

Three themes: Differences between PC and Mobile, moving to a p2p medium, importance of open standards and user creativity.

Differences between PC and mobile platforms

[Smart Mobs]